A favourite Downtown Peterborough tourism draw is currently gearing up for another year.

The Farm to Table Peterborough Downtown Culinary Tour will be operating from July until September – and trying to continue a streak of sold out events celebrating the shops and restaurants of the Downtown core.

The weekly tours, which visit six downtown businesses each week, showcase local boutique food stores and downtown restaurants, highlighting small batch, artisan food production and local/seasonal cooking. They run from 1pm to roughly 4pm each Wednesday, leaving from the Peterborough Downtown Farmers’ Market.

Each venue provides generous samples of their products – including some wine and beer samples.

“Every year it gets better and better,” smiles Owner/Tour Operator, Donald Fraser. “Both patrons and businesses continue to be eager to climb on board. By the end of the summer, the vast majority of bookings were a result of word of mouth. It has incredible momentum.”

Reviews have been universally positive.

“Raves,” glows Fraser. “In fact, most people come up and thank me individually after the event. Several people have come back for second tours. The word of mouth – the buzz – has been fantastic.”

The reason for its success?

“Really, it is the business owners and chefs who have made these tours so popular,” he admits. “We have so many incredibly talented business people downtown. And they are all characters – all so good at capturing the attention of patrons and tour participants. These people are artists. They are educators. They are showmen and showwomen. And they have been absolutely wowing their audiences. It’s been a genuine pleasure to watch them do their stuff and sample their incredible foods.

The tour has been particularly successful in showcasing Downtown Peterborough.

“It’s been some great direct marketing for all of the businesses on board,” explains Fraser. “We’re introducing new customers to restaurants and shops across the core and letting chefs and owners wow them with their talent, personalities, and incredible foods. We know that many of these patrons are going to come back. We also know that they are going to tell friends, families, and colleagues about their experiences. Add this to the media outreach and social media outreach, and you have thousands of people being introduced to these businesses.”

The tour has attracted a wide array of participants.

“What has been incredible is the diversity of people coming out,” says Fraser. “We’ve had cottagers, people from communities outside of Peterborough – Lakefield, Bridgenorth, Young’s Point, Ennismore, Millbrook – groups of people from local workplaces, retirees, students… You name it. So many of these people have spent time in the downtown without ever frequenting these businesses. And so many of them are now vowing to return to these great shops and restaurants.”

The success of the tours has led to valuable partnerships with the GPAEDC, Peterborough Tourism, the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, and, in particular, the DBIA.

“We’re very excited to be getting support from the DBIA. I think they’ve recognized the special nature of these direct marketing experiences.

This year Fraser promises to add more tours to the roster – doing some special evening events, some new regional trips, and even some East City tours. He’s also excited to announce new businesses.

“The Community Butcher Shop, The Food Forest, and By the Bridge were all quick to get involved,” says Fraser. “I’d also love to hear from other Downtown restaurants – if you are incorporating local, seasonal, or small-batch, craft foods, we want to showcase it!”

For more information on the tour, including schedules, please visit www.ptbolocalfoods.ca or call Farm to Table Peterborough at 705-977-0604.

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Farm to Tablewants to bring a taste of Peterborough and the surrounding areas to you. We write about, promote, and prepare local, seasonal food. We also lead regular culinary tours of both downtown Peterborough and the surrounding areas.With regular media outreach, workshops, and promotion of local producers and businesses, we shine the spotlight on local tastes. We want to share our meals with you!

Donald Fraser has spent the past 15 years working to promote local food and sustainable living. As a former TV segment producer/host, newspaper columnist, and workshop presenter, he has featured countless growers, food producers, restaurants, and local food enthusiasts. His food writing has appeared in newspapers and magazines throughout Southern and Central Ontario. Donald marries a keen understanding of “food miles” to a love of diverse cooking styles. He believes in having fun with food, mixing the gourmet with the common-day to present food that anyone can sink their teeth into. When not showcasing the Peterborough culinary scene, he is the owner of Small Print Writing and Communications Consulting.

The restaurant is brought to us by ARIA and Shots. The partner and GM is Franz Roessi, whose family has been in the butcher shop biz 30+ years. The Chef is Dillon Muldoon, who will deliver a modern take on Pub Food.

There promises to be a wonderful combination of “modern” pub food and big screen excitement.

For the next few days, communities across the province will be celebrating the foods grown and served in our area.

The Peterborough group Nourish is celebrating the week by promoting their Nourish Dollar program. Nourish cultivates health, food, community and the economy by weaving an innovative and unique web which places access to healthy food at the core of its work. The Nourish Dollar programs helps keep money in our food system — benefiting growers and helping others experience the advantages of local food. Simply purchase the dollars and use them at local businesses for local products.

“While the official fête only lasts a week, the annual event seeks to inspire a more durable connection to local food by raising public awareness of our regional food system while encouraging consumers to adopt easy to make changes in terms of what and where they eat.

Here at Nourish, our love for local food lasts year round, and creating new connections to local food is a key component of our work. In 2013, we created Nourish Market Dollars as a way of doing this. Today, we are seeking to expand the program by enlarging it’s impact throughout the Peterborough Community.”